Jar of Hearts
by Terapsina
Summary: Caroline fell in love with Klaus, but then he broke a promise. Now fifteen years later he's found her and as you can imagine she isn't too thrilled about it. Song-fic, one-shot. Klaroline


Disclaimer: None of the recognizable characters or places belong to me (certainly not Russia, too much paperwork). I also don't profit from this (except in reviews).

A/N: I know many people aren't that thrilled about song-fics, but give this one a chance please. Anyway, as soon as Klaroline became a possibility I thought that one day this song would fit them perfectly, so I jumped ahead and wrote this.

_O0o0O_

_O0o0O_ **Jar of Hearts** _O0o0O_

_O0o0O_

_I know I can't take one more step towards you_

_Cause all that's waiting is regret_

_And don't you know I'm not your ghost anymore?_

_You lost the love I love the most_

_O0o0O_

It ended in tragedy. She had known it would the moment she found his first gift, even while she loosened the white ribbon she had known that whatever his intentions, pure (snort) or manipulative, they would still lead to the same conclusion. And they did, in the end her heart lay shattered by his feet.

So she left. She couldn't just stay in that town a day longer, after all it had taken too much away from her already. She lost her life there. She lost her father there. She killed someone there. And it was the place that broke her heart four times.

She loved Klaus, it had taken a long time before she did and she had fought it every step of the way, but in the end it was a battle she wasn't meant to win. And yet that didn't matter, because the only thing being with him brought was regret and sorrow.

And as he stood facing her now, fifteen years since their last meeting, the familiar smirk still fresh across his face and his eyes still lighting with admiration, while he looked at her, she viciously pushed down all lingering emotion. She wasn't _his _anymore, not ever again.

Caroline Forbes still might look seventeen, but she had grown up and she didn't need him. He had lost all rights to her heart the moment he betrayed his word.

"Had a nice night Caroline?" his eyes flew over her little black dress and hesitated a moment longer than necessary on her chest. She crossed her arms. "I _have_ to mention though. Russia? I didn't expect to find you here."

That was a lie, she was well aware he had been looking for her for a while and if he was here now, then it was because he had every intention to run into her. She wouldn't play this game with him however, that's what got her into trouble the first time.

"Go away Klaus!"

Not waiting for a response she turned around to leave. A shame of course, this was a nice apartment, but Saint Petersburg had a lot of excellent hotels she could stay in while finding a new part of the globe.

_O0o0O_

_I learned to live, half alive_

_And now you want me one more time_

_O0o0O_

She had finally learned how to get past Klaus, how to wake up without wanting to let him find her and to then forgive him.

It had taken _so_ much time, but she could honestly say that she could live again. It wasn't the same as before, she could never again be as positive towards the world as she was before she loved him. And life was no longer as exciting, as full of exhilaration. But she could survive with that, because it wasn't as soul crushing either.

And now he was back thinking he could somehow win her over once more. But doing it the first time had been a miracle in of itself, it would _never_ happen again.

He could send her all the portraits of her face he wanted, gift her with the most historically significant jewelry and it would mean _nothing_. He didn't understand love then, and he still didn't, and all the grand gestures he so preferred wouldn't change a dime.

"I like your hair, red suits you, love."

"Really? I think I'll go blond again, or maybe shorten them into a pixie cut entirely."

She suddenly felt like the hero in that old TV serial she loved, when she hadn't known any better, and thought that chopping your hair because someone complimented it was dumb. She sympathized now.

She waived over the bartender for another glass of liquor, if she couldn't avoid Klaus physically maybe getting smashed out of her mind would somehow make him disappear. As she saw him compel the third guy coming over to save her from the man obviously bothering her - with every intention of finding their way into her skirt later on of course, - she knew it was a wane hope anyway.

_O0o0O_

_And who do you think you are?_

_Runnin' 'round leaving scars_

_Collecting your jar of hearts_

_And tearing love apart_

_O0o0O_

"You're stupid!"

She glared up at him trying to ignore the tilting floor and the swaying ceiling, or was that the other way around? She didn't care, all that mattered was that Klaus stood in front of her and she had a piece of her mind to give him. As always he derailed her from her plans.

"Am I? I think that's the alcohol talking sweetheart."

He gently loosened the dress, sliding the expensive material down her shoulders and then removing it entirely. She was surprised to note that he didn't take advantage any further than that, but then again she would have kicked him in the jewels if he tried. All this sweetness was making it harder to stay cold towards him though, instead she chose to go with fire instead.

"No! You _are _stupid, and mean and… and a jarhead!"

He cocked his eyebrow at that and she was angry to notice the little smile that she knew meant he thought she was acting adorable again. It only agitated her more and made her go to the big guns, to the stuff she knew would really hurt him.

"Who do you think you are anyway? You came to my town and you killed people and you took Tyler away from me. You know I loved him right? I loved him more than anything, than _anyone_ else." She saw his face closing off, his eyes losing their warmth, but she didn't do the smart thing and back down. She chose to take the killing shot instead. "More than _you_!"

And then he was glaring right back, there was power behind his stare and she almost felt fear, but she was drunk and furious and didn't apologize. If he hurt her now, he'd just prove her right and it would reinforce her side in every argument they'd ever had.

But he didn't attack her, didn't lay a finger. Out of all the people she knew and cared about _this_ above everything else made her unique in their eyes, - at least where Klaus was concerned.

"If you loved him so _much_, why is he in Nebraska playing house with that Indian tramp, Sarah was it?"

She froze in surprise at his words, they had even shocked her out of the alcohol induced haze a bit because she hadn't after all known that he had kept tabs on her friends. Then again Tyler was his first hybrid, maybe Klaus only looked in on him and Elena. She shook her head, to free it of the irrelevant thoughts and to rid herself of the images an angry hybrid Original inspired, he always looked extra hot like this.

"Her name is Sari and she's a nice girl. And maybe unlike you I know when to do the right thing and let the people I love go, maybe if you were the _tiniest_ bit familiar with the concept your family wouldn't all hate you."

She knew she had gone too far when his face changed revealing the veins by his eyes. His fingers twitched and for a second Caroline was sure she would lose her heart to him in a very literal sense too. But then he turned his back on her and strode towards the door of her honeymoon suite.

"I hope you can get into bed by yourself, I have no wish to be here when you lose your stomach contents. I'll see you tomorrow when you're feeling better."

She almost called him back to apologize, but silenced herself by biting her lip. He deserved everything she had said.

_O0o0O_

_You're gonna catch a cold_

_From the ice inside your soul_

_So don't come back for me_

_Who do you think you are?_

_O0o0O_

As she traveled downstairs to the crazy expensive café to buy some much needed coffee in her favorite sundress, large dark sunglasses covering her sensitive eyes, she was sure she wouldn't be seeing Klaus again.

When she noticed him lounging in one of the extremely comfortable chairs flirting in Russian with a pretty assisting manager she didn't know if what she felt was disappointment or irritation. It certainly wasn't jealousy.

She wasn't a total idiot, she knew a setup when she saw one. Instead of butting in to compel the poor girl to leave, like Klaus certainly wanted her to, she just rolled her eyes, - even if no one saw it, it was the thought that counted - and kept moving with purpose towards the promise of caffeine in peace. It wasn't to be.

Klaus had abandoned his admirer the moment he saw Caroline leaving and quickly caught up.

"Good morning Caroline! I hope you feel better this morning."

She grunted in reply, hoping to make her point clear. She didn't want to talk to him and would really appreciate it if he did the decent thing and left her the hell alone. But it was Klaus, so of course such blatant signals went ignored.

She quickened her steps and chose the childish route of pretending that the man next to her was nothing more than an annoying fly buzzing around her. Or more accurately an annoying, hybrid spider that wanted to lure her into its deceptively pleasant web of lies, bullshit and broken promises. What? She never claimed that she wasn't still bitter.

Showing more restraint than was usual Klaus didn't try to speak to her again until after her second cup of mystic hangover cure, ingeniously created by grinding the famous brown beans. It almost made her want to be more lenient with him. Almost.

"You know it took me a lot of effort to find you love. You certainly put your mind into hiding yourself from me well."

**"**_**Then take the freaking hint!**_**"**

"I know you lived in Germany for a while and, if I'm not mistaken, visited Egypt as well... when was it, six years ago?"

He had continued his monologue as if not hearing her, like she had whispered when in fact the people sitting at the other tables were looking at her judgingly following her outburst. She just glared them down, smiling in triumph when they looked away.

She tried not to be additionally pleased by his amused laugh.

"I did notice how you seem to specifically avoid Italy, France and Japan however. Why is that?"

She gulped down the last drop from her cup to avoid his searching gaze and to give herself a moment to regroup. The truth was that she didn't want to visit any of the places he, once upon a time, promised to show her alone, but there was no way she would ever admit it.

Instead she scoffed.

"Don't flatter yourself, they're just not as interesting as you seem to think."

Silence descended after her words, and with anyone else Caroline would call it a comfortable one, but linking that word with him would be dangerous. The moment passed and when she finally looked up connecting her eyes with his, she could see all the humanity he wasn't supposed to have, still there, reserved just for her. But that was the problem, after all, no one else ever received that amnesty.

"Why did you leave?"

Her gaze turned furious, if he couldn't see _that_ than he was blinder than she ever thought. But if to get rid of him she needed to explain herself then that's what she would do.

"You promised me something and then you broke that word. You told me that you wouldn't hurt my friends anymore if I let myself love you."

"I didn't harm them Caroline."

"No? So when you switched out Matt's and Elena's vervain and then compelled them to conceive a child it was completely innocent? It didn't in any way hurt them? You didn't plan it so you could hunt down the next Petrova Doppelganger in five hundred more years?"

His face didn't alter, but she could see a trace of remorse hidden within his eyes, probably invisible even to himself. Except that this _trace_ just wasn't good enough, he had destroyed so many other relationships, not counting their own (never counting their own), with that move. And it might have given Elena the child she otherwise would never have received, but she didn't love Matt, at least not _really_ and then suddenly she was parents with him.

So there Caroline had stood in the middle again, not wanting to fight against the man she loved, but not being willing to protect him from the friends who were doing the right thing. For as long as he lived he would always be a threat to Elena's children and grandchildren. And he was the single, truly immortal being on Earth.

But more importantly to her, he broke a promise. He might have kept himself to the letter of the law as they say, but he broke the spirit of it. And if she couldn't trust him to even avoid shattering the life of her best friend, she couldn't trust him with anything else. She couldn't trust that he loved her.

"You're cold Klaus, you barely feel! You have lived too long, seen too much, done evil too often. I don't think you know the meaning of the word love. I _left_ because I didn't trust you. And I don't want you here, because it took me a long time to deal with it and I don't need you to mess up my life again."

It looked like a mighty glacier breaking into pieces. Almost anyone would have told Caroline that Klaus Mikaelson didn't possess a heart, almost everyone _did_, and yet they would be wrong, because she was just now witnessing the moment it broke.

_O0o0O_

_I hear you're asking all around_

_If I am anywhere to be found_

_I have grown too strong_

_To ever fall back in your arms_

_O0o0O_

A week had gone by since the moment Caroline unloaded all she ever thought of him on Klaus. He hadn't spoken to her since, but she could still find him every night drinking in the bar downstairs. She was surprised to note that no horrific murders had taken place and no one was missing in the nearby area (she checked). It almost made her impressed, except it would be stupid to feel that way about someone not going on a killing spree.

Her hotel phone rang and she absentmindedly picked it up.

"Yes?"

"Caroline? Thank God, do you ever turn on your cell phone? I've been calling you for days and do you have any idea how hard it was to find out you live in a hotel now? What happened to your apartment?"

Bonnie's voice was the most welcome sound she had heard all week. It conjured up the smile she had almost lost fifteen years ago.

"Hi Bonnie! My apartment was… inaccessible. And sorry, I guess I forgot to recharge the thing."

She lay down on her back, the phone to her ear and her eyes trained on the ceiling, she was suddenly struck by the million conversations they used to have this way, back when they were _both_ teens and not separated by more than a twenty minute walk.

"What did you want to tell me?"

"Oh right, Klaus found out where you are. I'm sorry, but Damon as you well know is still a bastard and when he was given the slightest incentive he sang like a frightened canary. I'm surprised Klaus didn't try that sooner actually."

Caroline winced knowing that this conversation would have done a lot more good those few days ago. She should really stop forgetting to keep her phone turned on and fully charged.

"Oh!"

"Yeah, so I suggest you leave, before he shows up on your doorstep."

Caroline let out a tired sigh, she would need to handle this carefully if she didn't want her whole group of close friends to show up with torches and pitchforks. It would be nice to see them again, she had missed them terribly, but it would complicate things unnecessarily. And she knew Klaus was just about ready to give up anyway.

She chose to ignore the little prick of sadness this understanding brought on.

"Too late Bon! He's here."

"What! Don't worry we'll be there tomorrow, I have a bunch of sick days saved up anyway so…"

"It's alright, you don't have to come. I can handle him."

She interrupted her friend before Bonnie could buy the plane tickets and alert the rest of the gang. If she couldn't stop the witch in her tracks and plead out a promise to remain silent she could be sure that at least one more unwelcome surprise wouldn't be waiting for her in the following days.

For a moment the other end of this long distance call remained silent, but then Bonnie restarted the conversation in a much steadier tone.

"Are you _sure?_ I know you… cared about Klaus, and it might be easier for you to stay away from him if we were there."

"I don't love him, Bonnie!"

She no longer knew who she was trying to convince. A day ago this wouldn't have felt like a lie, but as stubborn as she was Klaus' presence nevertheless brought up all the feelings she thought long since buried. It didn't change anything of course, Klaus was still and always would be the crazed hybrid Original who destroyed everything he touched and left bloodied bodies and broken hearts in his wake.

It had taken her _so long_ before she could face an eternity as a vampire and even longer to be fine with doing it alone. She wouldn't, _couldn't_ go thought that yet again. She was strong now, letting him back was too big of a risk and one he _didn't_ deserve.

_O0o0O_

_Dear, it took so long_

_Just to feel alright_

_Remember how to put back_

_The light in my eyes_

_O0o0O_

Caroline was involved in an hour of conversation, begging and bargaining before she was sure that Bonnie would not say anything to anyone about Klaus' visit. But she only had a week to get rid of him, after that all bets were off.

And Caroline Forbes was nothing if not proactive. That talk with one of her closest friends had taken place twenty minutes ago, now dressed she was steadily marching towards the sinfully good looking, but very bad for her man with purpose and poise. He didn't even look up from his bottle of scotch, but she knew he had noticed her by his rigid shoulders and uncharacteristic frown.

"Are you trying to ignore me now?"

"That's what you want isn't it? For me to ignore you?"

He looked defeated and she had to fight back the urge to slap some spark back into him. This was supposed to be the attitude she wanted him to have.

"No, what I want is for you to leave not brood three floors beneath me. And what is it with brooding now anyway? Is there like a vampire contest I don't know about where the biggest frown and most impressive forehead crease gets an all expenses paid trip to Bluesville? "

Klaus cracked a smile and Caroline was happy about that because she knew that there was no way she could have convinced him of anything if he barely talked not because his depressed disposition concerned her. Right? Right.

He finally looked at her and the sadness in his eyes made her think of running, but then he brought his hand forth and carefully tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. It was such a sweet gesture it almost swallowed her into the memories of all the times he had acted just as gently. That had been the most difficult part to get over after she left, it was sometimes hard to remember that he was a monster when he acted so unlike one with her.

"You look good!"

"Klaus…"

"No, I mean it. Before you vanished… the light in your eyes, I didn't see it. That sun is there now, shining at everything you gaze at again."

He wasn't finished, she could see him looking past her for more words. It was like there was a question he didn't want to ask but was compelled to reveal anyway. She stayed quiet, waiting.

"Did I take it away?"

There was guilt in his tone. It almost made her lie, but he appreciated honesty. He hated it, but desired it too and lying to him never ended well for anyone. It was a lesson most learned the hard way.

"Yes."

The expression he wore then she had only seen once before, on the night he realized she had been distracting him and he could feel his family dying. The betrayal wasn't there this time, but the hurt matched and she couldn't quite understand why he had it now. Suddenly she needed to explain herself, just like those years back when she barely started to tolerate him at all.

"You might not have meant to, but you did. I love my friends Klaus. When my dad left mom they were the only people I had. I used to crash with Elena or Bonnie and they would stay awake with me half the night talking to me, to make me feel better. Matt kept the other jocks off my back for a month because he knew I couldn't deal with flirting like they were used to from me."

She hesitated, continuing would mean opening up to him even more and she wasn't sure that would be a good idea. But stupid bravery was always one of her better qualities.

"And you promised to leave them alone. I shouldn't have believed you, after all Elena carries the thing you value most, but I did. You said you wouldn't harm them, that you wouldn't spill their blood because you loved me. But you made sure that in five hundred years you would have a girl whose blood you _didn't_ promise to not steal."

Caroline's gaze and heart hardened as she remembered why she ran from him, why she had to become so strong to protect herself. Klaus looked away.

"When you broke that promise I knew that I couldn't trust anything you had ever said to me. Maybe you didn't really care about me. Maybe you compelled me to love you. Maybe I was part of some plan in getting closer to my friends."

He swallowed down the remains of his drink and then threw the empty bottle past the bar's counter against the wall, glass shattered and at least half the alcohol, previously placed neatly in bottles side by side, met the floor. Someone screamed, but the other clientele just watched in frozen surprise. Caroline rolled her eyes, he was slowly turning it into a habit of hers. Klaus always was a master at getting attention.

The hybrid stood up walking towards the exit outwardly unconcerned. Just as he reached the door he paused and whispered loud enough for her vampire hearing to pick up.

"I'm sorry. Goodbye Caroline."

She should feel relief. She didn't, the only feeling running through her was fear. She might never see Klaus again and maybe that wasn't such a good thing after all.

_O0o0O_

_I wish I had missed_

_The first time that we kissed_

'_Cause you broke all your promises_

_And now you're back you don't get to get me back_

_O0o0O_

Caroline was pacing in her room like a caged lioness. Things were so simple a few days ago and then Klaus showed up and did what he never failed at. He muddled up her goals, her principles and ultimately complicated everything.

She really wished she had never met him. Wished he had never come to save her life, or much better, never endangered it in the first place. Wished she never found out he liked to paint and also that he had never started painting _her_. Wished she never fell in love with him. Wished she never kissed him.

"_So you're letting him go? Just like that?"_

"_Yes love, he will no longer have to fight for free will until he's sick."_

_Caroline's eyes lit up like a sunny summer morning, warm and inspiring in its intensity. Klaus' own face relaxed as he watched her, something about her was even overshadowing the glint of anguish she knew his one good deed had created._

_Tyler had been so close on his own, but the sire's bond was sneakier than anyone could have predicted and it only allowed freedom at the price of one's life. But she wouldn't have to worry about it anymore, Tyler would live and they could finally be together again._

_Because the horrible, beautiful man standing in front of her was letting her go._

_She didn't want the feelings he felt for her, they were too intense and coming from the one person least familiar with them. And she loved Tyler. And he was Klaus. And all of those rational reasons were slowly transforming into excuses._

_Klaus wasn't generous, he wasn't selfless and he didn't help without evil intentions. Or he didn't used to, but… but he did for her._

_Suddenly she needed to express her gratitude in some way._

_And before her head caught up with her heart she had stepped closer to him, wrapped her arms around his neck and touched her lips to his. It was as if the world had stopped breathing and started to spin beneath their feet a million times faster. Colors bloomed and danced behind her closed eyelids. He groaned and pulled her even nearer, the kiss grew in passion and his hold on her tightened._

_When they slowly pulled apart and her higher thought processes returned she could do nothing but stand speechless staring at him and wait for the world to right itself. It didn't._

That was the moment it really started. Until then he couldn't have taken an inch of her love, but then he let her go and she, like the stupid romantic she was, fell right into the trap.

And none of that should matter, because there was still one thing more important to him than her. His hybrid army.

She had been second best all her life. The second friend and the second lover, ultimately even the afterthought vampire. She loved people, but people still tended to forget about her. And a little piece of Caroline would never get past that even if the rest of her conquered it head on.

Caroline had always wanted love, she never wanted to be alone. And then she found another person who felt exactly the same way, she took a chance and even knowing it wouldn't end in a bed of roses she hadn't expected the ending to hurt quite as much as it did.

She shouldn't want to have Klaus back. And she didn't, but she missed him.

She looked towards the phone that was finally on and slowly picked it up. He was still on her contacts list, even at her most angry she had never deleted his number.

Caroline took a deep breath and pressed 'call'.

She got voice mail. She didn't hang up, this actually made things easier.

"Klaus? I…" She cursed her hesitation and went on. "I did love you, I mean I still do. More than I did Tyler and more than Matt. More than anyone. But I _can't_ be with you when you don't keep your promises and I _won't_ be with you if you plan to harm, in whatever form, one of my friends _or_ their descendants. Why couldn't you let go of your unkillable army when you had me?"

A tear slipped past her eyelashes, the first one she had shed since the night after she left him.

"Goodbye Klaus!"

_O0o0O_

_Who do you think you are?_

_O0o0O_

She was reorganizing her new apartment in Paris when the doorbell rang. Curious, she opened the door, a boy physically maybe a year older than her (and mentally probably brainless from hormones) held a clipboard and a package obviously meant for her.

He smiled a fixed grin, that turned more naturally foolish when he saw her (knew it), and told her to sign before giving her the mail.

Just as soon as she was alone again she opened the package. She was afraid she knew who it was from, after all how many people were there that would send her something wrapped safely in the form of a tube? As expected, it was a painting.

She rolled it open and snorted. Who did he think he was? A magician that painted something and made it come alive by wishing?

Looked that way, because there she was, her blond hair in a pixie cut and her head resting against a man's shoulder, their fingers intertwined. Klaus always did do forward well.

She was putting the painting to the side when something dropped to the floor. It was a piece of paper, his handwriting as familiar today as it was fifteen years ago.

"_How will you make sure I leave future Petrova's alone if you're not there to keep an eye on me?"_

A smile rose on her face, Klaus was giving in. Caroline always knew that they wouldn't end well, but maybe, just _maybe_ they wouldn't have to end at all.


End file.
